The Wall St. Journal today has an article advising authors on how to sell more books [subscription required.] It comes down to having a "platform."
"Platform" is defined as a "regular column, frequent TV appearances or recurring speaking gigs that allow an author to pitch to a ready-made audience."
Later in the article they add free email newsletters (and a healthy subscriber base) to the list of platforms. Let me add blogs as well.
One book agent, Bonnie Solow, says she needs to know an author’s credentials, speaking calendar, media contacts and active Web site’s URL. "If you want a serious book deal, those matters have to be answered in the affirmative," she continues.
The authors featured in the article all created a built-in community of people who are interested in their products and what they have to say. It makes them more attractive to a publisher, and more likely to land a book deal in the first place.
Since it wasn’t the focus of the article, there’s nothing about what an author’s Web site should contain. In a coming-soon post, I’ll talk about some of the author Web sites flyte’s developed and what’s effective for author Web sites.
